Jay Reatard - Matador Singles '08

  by Daniel Cressey

published: 9 / 10 / 2008

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Review

As you might infer from the title, this album collects the singles Jay Reatard has been putting out on Matador this year. Given that less than a thousand of the last of the six 7”s he has put out were pressed this is probably the first chance many of us will have to listen to them. Given that these singles contain some of the best pop-punk of recent years it is a welcome opportunity. Reatard constructs timeless pop songs that could come from any time from the 1960's to the 2060's. Fusing a nice line in timeless old school rock and roll with a classic rebel snarl would be enough for most songwriters but Reatard manages to roll it up in an immensely hummable package. Such is the quality that it is hard to pick any individual tracks as most worthy of praise. ‘You Mean Nothing To Me’ starts like vintage Rolling Stones before segueing into punk and ending up in a distinctly Reatard brand of foot-tapping goodness. ‘See/Saw’ is a fist pumping gem that builds up slowly to its glorious denouement. These are great, but not better than the rest of the songs here. While these tracks may lack some of the explosive violence of his live show they capture the same energy and add a perhaps surprising level of humour and melody. Without even seeming to try Jay Reatard has just produced the most joyful celebration of music yet released this year.

Track Listing:-

1 See/Saw
2 Screaming Hand
3 Painted Shut
4 An Ugly Death
5 Always Wanting More
6 You Mean Nothing To Me
7 Fluorescent Grey
8 Trapped Here
9 Hiding Hole
10 DOA
11 No Time
12 You Were Sleeping
13 I'm Watching You

Label Links:-

http://www.matadorrecords.com/
https://twitter.com/matadorrecords
https://www.facebook.com/MatadorRecord
http://matadorrecords.tumblr.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/matadorre
https://www.instagram.com/matadorrecor